The recent advancements in research on nerve cells have given rise to the possibility of regenerating brain that is lost by Alzheimer's disease, trauma, and the like. In such brain regeneration, elucidation of the factor inducing differentiation into nerve cells is important.
With regard to induction of differentiation into nerve cells, Mangale et al. have recently reported that a protein called Lhx2 induces neural stem cells or neural progenitor cells to become the cortex, while inhibiting induction of those cells to become the hippocampus (Mangale, V. S. et al., Science, Vol. 319, No. 5861, 304-309, 2008).